Child Protection: This 'School Ban File' Aims to Prevent Certain Adults from Approaching Students

Entrusting your child to school or extracurricular activities requires an essential ingredient: trust. To address the legitimate concerns of families following several recent tragedies and scandals, the government is proposing a child protection bill, examined from mid-July at the National Assembly, which includes a radical measure: the creation of a national file to permanently exclude dangerous profiles from educational institutions.

An Absolute Barrier to Secure Institutions

Invited to speak on France Culture, Minister of National Education Édouard Geffray clearly articulated this initiative. The goal is to implement a tool capable of blocking access to educational structures for individuals who should never approach minors again. This ban file will apply to all functions, without exception. Whether it concerns a teaching position, an animation mission, a service contract, or even a volunteer engagement within an association, the door will be closed.

This decision follows a brutal awakening, particularly after the tragic death of little Lyhanna and the suspension of more than 130 animators in Paris since the beginning of the year, including around fifty for suspicions of sexual or sexist violence. For families, the stakes are immense because the risk is not limited to classrooms but encompasses the entire ecosystem surrounding children daily.

The Blind Spots of the Current System are Targeted

The current system already has administrative and judicial locks, such as the consultation of criminal records or the file of sexual offense perpetrators. However, these tools sometimes prove too scattered to intercept all warning signals. The significant innovation of this future file lies in its expanded scope. It will not only list individuals convicted by the courts but will also include those dismissed or terminated by the administration due to inappropriate behavior with minors, even in the absence of a criminal conviction.

The government aims to break down administrative silos and interconnect data from the National Education, the extracurricular sector, and the sports world. School administrations and local authorities will be able to check candidates' backgrounds at a glance and ensure that a supervisor removed from one structure cannot find a similar position a few kilometers away.

The School as a Sentinel for Minors

Beyond this essential filtering, the school institution reminds us that it is on the front lines for detecting abuse. The National Education is currently the primary reporting service in France, transmitting nearly 80,000 concerning pieces of information or reports to the judiciary each year.

While family associations welcome this strengthening of controls, several professionals in the child sector and UNICEF remind us that a digital tool will not solve everything. For protection to be total, structures demand adequate budgets, recruitment of qualified personnel, and a real prevention plan. The bill, led by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, will be the subject of heated debates in the National Assembly starting July 15 to define the exact contours of this system. In the meantime, this measure lays an essential first stone to provide parents with the peace of mind they legitimately seek every morning on the way to school.